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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23437315">The fallen Valkyrie</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/indiwhite/pseuds/indiwhite'>indiwhite</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Hunters, F/F, Hunters &amp; Hunting, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:01:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>17,090</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23437315</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/indiwhite/pseuds/indiwhite</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Heather and Astrid, like bread and butter, peas in a pod. They work well together, and who couldn't see that? </p><p>They were beat friends, and, well, they want to be more. Hiccup and Astrid's fights and becoming more and more frequent, and they just can't seem to get along anymore. Heather and Fishlegs, they delayed anything between them with Viggo around. But really, Heather doesn't want a relationship with Fishlegs. She knows she should, but she doesn't. She wants a relationship with Astrid, and Astrid wants a relationship with Heather. </p><p>While they're trying to find their way through these new feelings, through these new desires, these new beginnings, someone, someone's, are lurking. A new threat, bigger than anything they've seen before is rising, and this time, they may not be able to stop it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Heather/Astrid Hofferson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hiya! I'm back, and I have a collab story! I've been collaborating with someone by the name of Ella the lone dragon hunter on HTTYD amino. This story is from Heather and Astrid's perspective as a new threat, amd new feelings, arise! </p><p>I do hope you enjoy this, as does Ella. Without further Adieu, I present to you, chapter 1!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The world was a different place before the war, before the empire, back in those days things were so much simpler.<br/> Most tribes and kingdoms spread no further than the beaches of their islands, it was such a different place for the dragons especially.<br/> In the days before the empire, dragons had been an important part of society whether you rode them or hunted them, they had made their place in the world and had their own little system of things kind of like humans. </p><p>They were different but they went together, and nowhere was that more apparent than with Heather who during her time living at the dragons edge base with her friends from Berk had learned more about dragons than she could have ever imagined. </p><p>She took a deep breath letting the wind fly through her soft black hair as her and her loyal razorwhip Windshear approaches the Edge returning from a scouting mission. </p><p>Astrid stood on the landing bay, feet dangling over the edge as she sat, waiting for Heather to return. Next to her laid the Deadly Nadder Stormfly, getting a scratch under the chin from the blonde. </p><p>She sighed, still upset about the fight her and hiccup had had earlier about Heather. He was annoyed at the Raven's actions, going out alone. But Astrid understood. And these fights were getting more frequent and she just wasn't sure she could do this anymore </p><p>Heather had noticed a little that Astrid and Hiccup seemed more distant than usual, but she didn’t think too much of it really since most couples needed some time off every once in a while, after all she was the one who encouraged Astrid to be with Hiccup when she met up with the riders after their small adventure on Berk.</p><p>Spotting the Raven haired girl on her dragon Astrid can't help but grin, and stands, waiting for the dragon to land. Heather was always a great distraction, and lots of fun as always, so she was sure they could hang out. </p><p>Stormfly perks up, standing with her rider when she spots the Razorwhip flying towards them.</p><p>Heather and Windshear landed on the landing platform smoothly, Heather jumping off the dragon and getting her things before giving her dragon a nice little scratch under the chin. <br/>"Good landing girl, keep this up and I think even Hiccup will need to start taking notes"</p><p>Astrid laughs at the girls confidence. It always made her laugh, the way the girl could be so confident and cocky, yet know when to take notes herself, or at least she usually did. </p><p>"Hiccup can take lots of notes. Go on girl, you two go play". At the mention of play the Nadder runs off, calling to Windshear to follow her into the stables</p><p>The Razorwhip was quick to follow the Nadder into the stables while Heather approached and hugged her best friend as they usually did. "So good to see you again Astrid"</p><p>Astrid can't help but grin, hugging the other girl back. <br/>"You too, I've missed you. What do you say we get out of here, to the other side of the island?" She offers. She knew that Heather didn't like just sitting around, and Neither did she to be honest. And this was a good opportunity for them to have girl time.</p><p>"Like you even have to ask, come on let’s go!"</p><p>Heather said walking with the blonde to where they loved to hangout, she would stop at the clubhouse real quick to drop off some notes on what she saw while scouting the waters nearby for Hiccup to read later.</p><p>Astrid smirks, the girls enthusiasm to hang out with her always making her happy. <br/>She follows the girl, sighing when Heather drops off notes for Hiccup. They just didn't get on any more and she didn't know why. </p><p>"Alright, what do you want to do?" She asks the Raven haired girl, crossing her arms across her chest as she leans against a tree in the forest of the edge.</p><p>"Well you're usually the one who has the ideas of what to do, and I know that we haven’t done everything there is to do on this island yet so what else have you got?"</p><p>Heather had been living at the edge for about a month and a half now so there was still a few things about it she didn’t know about.</p><p>"hmm, alright, how about this". She lets out a high pitched whistle and two night terrors raced towards them. </p><p>"Here", she points to a night terrors on the ground, gesturing to it. It flys onto Heather's shoulder. </p><p>Heather smiled as the little dragon landed on her shoulder. "Hey little guy"</p><p>The dragon chirps in her ear gently and the other one lands on Astrid's shoulder. She leads Heather to a small cave opening.<br/>"Come on, I'm sure you haven't been down here"</p><p>"Nope I haven’t really explored this side that far before, what's In here?"</p><p>"I'll show you, come on", Astrid jumps down and into the cave opening. The small dragons acted as guards to the girls in case any wild dragon tried to pull anything.</p><p>Heather loved Astrid’s sense of adventure and passion for exploration, she wasn’t afraid to explore anywhere, smiling she jumped in after her.</p><p>"ok, uh, here!" She holds a torch up and let's one of the night terrors light it. The light revealed a huge painting of the night terrors all together giving a huge dragon look.</p><p>"Woah! That’s amazing Astrid, did you make this?"<br/>Heather said pretty amazed at the painting that lay before them.</p><p>"I didn't, I think it was Vikings who were here before us. I've drawn it in a notebook though", she answers, holding the notebook out to Heather. <br/>She didn't draw a lot, she knew it was more Hiccup's thing, so she usually kept it to herself. But she was pretty good at it.</p><p>"That’s a pretty good drawing of it though Astrid, your a pretty talented artist"</p><p>Astrid grins, rubbing the back of her neck. She wasn't used to compliments from others, unless it was from Hiccup, or Snotlout trying to flirt. <br/>"Thanks", she answers, her night terror calling out to the other. </p><p>Heather smiled and continued to observe the painting. "Do any of the others know about this place?"</p><p>"I don't think so, at least not yet. They're always busy", she answers simply, taking her notebook back off of Heather</p><p>"I see"<br/>Suddenly an idea popped into her head "Hey, why don’t we make this like a little secret hangout place for us girls?"</p><p>"That's a great idea, I like that. But first I have guard duty tonight, wanna join?"  She asks. Guard tower consisted of staying at one of the towers for the night.</p><p>"Sure thing, I can join you for a bit"<br/>Heather said gleefully knowing how boring night watch could be especially for an adventurous girl like Astrid.</p><p>"come on, before we get scalded for being late", she says  letting the Night Terrors go as she makes her way out of the cave.</p><p>"Well we can always say we had to clean one of Ruff and Tuff’s messes, again", she said jokingly following her up. </p><p>"that's sadly too believable that it'll work", she says, laughing as she and Heather walk back through the forest to the edge. </p><p>Life seemed to be perfect for the two girls, they had the bestest friends in the world at each other’s side and the two best dragons anyone could ask for. But neither of them could have known that somewhere out in the oceans that lay beyond the island, a new darkness was slowly growing. </p><p>"Stormfly!" Astrid calls, and the Nadder comes running from in the stables where she was playing with Windshear. </p><p>"Man this whole secret hangout cave thing has me all excited", Heather said to herself while cleaning her beloved dragon, there were so many ideas flowing through her head. </p><p>Astrid laughs, overhearing the girl talking to herself. After saddling Stormfly she sits, waiting for Heather to finish. She watches her, grinning slightly.</p><p>Heather being extra cheerful today begins to hum a little tune to herself and making a cute little dance as she scrubs her dragon. </p><p>Astrid grins again, watching the girl with a sigh. How could she be enjoying time with her best friend more than Hiccup? Maybe they just should stop trying. <br/>Heather was just- amazing. Really, how did she get this lucky?</p><p>After a while Heather finished scrubbing her dragon down and tucked her into her stable so she could rest before going back outside to join her friend. "Mind if I catch a ride?"</p><p>"of course, come on", she reaches a hand out to help Heather up, giving her a grin as she does so. Stormfly skwarks, ready to go. </p><p>Heather happily takes her hand and hops onto the Nadder, wrapping her arms around Astrid so she wouldn’t fall off when they took off.</p><p>Astrid can't seem but feel slightly flustered when she feels the girls arms around her, but she shakes the feeling, narrowing it down to the lack of human contact recently and gives Stormfly a small squeeze, urging her into the sky. </p><p>As the dragon takes off into the sky Heather looks over to the horizon, wondering what kinds of adventures awaited her in the future. </p><p>"It looks like it may storm", Astrid points out, pointing to the grey clouds above them, the slight rumbling giving signs of a thunderstorm. </p><p>"Well good thing the towers have roofs over them, and hey I can help you keep warm if it gets too cold" Heather said. </p><p>"good point. See, I told fishlegs the rooftops were a good idea. I'll get to tell him I told him so later", she jokes, grinning as they approach one of the many towers.</p><p>"Where is he anyway? I haven’t seen him around lately"</p><p>"I'm not sure, he's mostly helping Hiccup, telling of Snotlout", she answers simply. </p><p>"They boys have seemed rather distant lately haven’t they?"</p><p>Heather noticed this and leaned forward a little, "you ok Astrid?"</p><p>"I'm fine, it's just Hiccup and me...", She trails off.</p><p>"What happened? Is everything ok between you two?" Heather asked her, a little concerned.</p><p>"we just can't agree on anything anymore, and the fights are adding up and I just don't think this is working anymore", she admits, sighing. </p><p>"Aw come on Astrid, I know you two will get through this your perfect for each other, maybe all you two need is a little time off?" Heather said to try and comfort her.<br/>She always wanted to help Astrid out with her relationship, after all she did encourage her to get closer to him although, deep in her, there was a part of her that felt a bit different, but she didn’t know what or why. </p><p>"we've tried, over and over again. And all he does is yell at me, and then everyone on the edge knows", she says, landing on the top of the tower with a sigh, and slides off Stormfly.</p><p>Heather looked at her friend a little worried, she knew how much her relationship to him meant to her, she hopped off and hugged her to try and cheer her up. <br/>"maybe you just need a little more time, he’s probably just under a lot of stress you know with Viggo and all that out there"</p><p>"I guess you're right, come on", she pushes open the entrance to the watchtower, gesturing to Stormfly to go to the small stall at the bottom of the tower. </p><p>Heather goes in with her into the tower, seeing the stuff that was usually left there for whoever was on watch, some food and a blanket to sleep with. </p><p>Astrid lights a fire quickly, before taking a seat on a pile of furs left for sleeping. She gives Heather a small smile before she sighs.</p><p>Heather sits next to her putting an arm around her friend. <br/>"it’s going to be fine Astrid, you know you’ve always got me at your side no matter what"</p><p>Astrid nods her head, sighing slightly. <br/>"Thankyou Heather, for everything". She grins, laughing at the memory of when they first met. <br/>"Do you remember when we first met?"</p><p>Heather giggled at the memory. "how could I forget, sometimes I can still feel the first time where you got me"</p><p>Astrid laughs, shaking her head at the memory of the two when they were younger. <br/>"We really hated each other that much huh?"</p><p>"Well I kind of maybe have stolen Stormfly so I kind of deserved it back then" she said in response. </p><p>"Funny how things turned out, I never once imagined back then that we’d become the best of friends"</p><p>Astrid nods. <br/>"You did. And yeah, me neither. It's crazy to think of really. I'm glad we did though"</p><p>"Yeah I don’t know what I’d do without you these days ", Heather said leaning in her head a little towards her friend. </p><p>Astrid hums in agreement, content washing over her as her friend rests her head on her shoulder. She yawns slightly, sighing happily.</p><p>Heather feels a warm sensation herself holding the blonde like this, she assumed it was just the feeling of comfort and joy of being around a good friend. </p><p>"forget about Hiccup, what about Fishlegs?" The girl asks, humming happily. She pulls at the ribbon keeping her hair in it's braid, running fingers through her hair, letting it out. She rarely wore her hair out like this.</p><p>Heather felt a very strange feeling in her heart seeing Astrid’s hair come down like this, she had never seen her like this and she appeared to be a little enchanted by this.<br/> "hmmmm? Oh Fishlegs, well we seem to be ok really, we kind of put the whole thing on hold since the Viggo fiasco happened and more dragons are in danger that I felt it would be best to not put too much stress on the poor guy, you know how sensitive he can be sometimes"</p><p>Astrid nods in understanding, knowing how stressed out the boy could get in times like this. She didn't seem to notice Heather staring at her as she ran her fingers through her hair. She didn't even think about what she was doing. </p><p>"Yeah, that makes sense. Do you still want to be in a relationship with him after this is all over?" She doesn't know why she asks this, perhaps curiosity? But somewhere in her she wanted to hear the answer, hoping it would be a no from the other girl.</p><p>Heather looked down a little, seeming kind of hesitant to speak. <br/> "honestly....I...I don’t know....i still find him funny and cute but....I kind of feel like it just wouldn’t work out, he seems to kind of work better alone"</p><p>Astrid gives her friend a reassuring smile, resting her hand on the other girl's leg. <br/>"It's fine Heather. You do what you want, it's your life. I won't tell".</p><p>Heather smiled a little, feeling her friend's hand on her leg. <br/>"Thanks Astrid....I’m so lucky to have you in my life"</p><p>Astrid grins, sighing. <br/>"Boys, they're so complicated. We're better off without them".</p><p>"Honestly....I can agree with that...and if she wasn’t twins with Tuff I think Ruffnut would agree too"</p><p>Astrid laughs at that, nodding. <br/>"Yeah, I think she'd definitely agree". She looks to Heather, her bright blue eyes sparkling in the fire light. This girl- she was just so amazing. And she just couldn't understand how she was such good friends with her, their connection was so strong.</p><p>An explosion could be heard somewhere on the island Heather rolled her eyes and stood up to see where it came from and sure enough it was exactly where she thought it was, the twins hut had smoke coming from the windows as the two numbskulls crashed through the door covered in soot and coughing.<br/> "nope, not cleaning that up again this time", Heather said before sitting back down. </p><p>Astrid snickers, rolling her eyes. <br/>"I don't even know how Hiccup puts up with them anymore, I don't know how anyone puts up with them", she adds, laughing again as she rests her head on Heather's shoulder, her long blonde hair cascading down both Astrid and Heather's shoulders.</p><p>Heather unknowingly and yet somehow instinctively rests her head down on top of Astrid’s head, not even knowing she was doing it, her mind listening to the crackles of the fire in front of them. </p><p> </p><p>Astrid seemed to notice, but said and did nothing. She was enjoying this, to be completely honest. It was so close, intimate, something she and Hiccup never achieved. He was always busy, too busy for things like this.</p><p>*What should we call it?", Heather asked out of the blue. </p><p>Astrid raises an eyebrow at the girl, confused. <br/>"Call what?" She asks, keeping her head resting on Heather's shoulder. </p><p>"The cave, our little secret hangout place, what should we call it?"</p><p>Astrid tilts her head, thinking. It was a silly thing to do, name it, yet it felt so right, that way it felt official. <br/>"I don't know. Any ideas?"</p><p>"The girls den?"</p><p>"I like that", she hums out gently, sighing slightly. It was now dark outside, the moon high in the sky, stars glowing bright white against the inky sky.</p><p>"Then that’s what we’ll call it, the girls den, a secret little place for you and me to hangout, away from everyone else". </p><p>Astrid says nothing but grins, yawning slightly. She normally didn't get tired easily, but it seemed this was tiring her out.</p><p>"Heh, sleepy already Astrid", Heather said jokingly. </p><p>"yes, actually", she answers, holding Heather's arm close. Ok, maybe she got a little touchy feely when she was tired.</p><p>Heather again instinctively and without any realization nuzzled her head in a cute way. <br/>"Get some rest, I’ll take watch for you for a bit"</p><p>Astrid giggles, which is a very rare thing for her to do, and nods, her eyes fluttering shut and she's asleep quickly.</p><p>Heather smiled seeing the young girl fall gently asleep on her, she didn’t move because Astrid looked so peaceful there.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. New Darkness</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Heather and Astrid are trying to enjoy their morning stuck inside the watch tower by the storm, but when Heather spots smoke billowing up from the ocean they discover something horrifying</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sun shone through the windows of the tower, and Astrid groans, stretching out as she untangled her and Heather's limbs. Had she really slept all night? </p><p>She curses herself as she stands, trying to make sure she didn't step on the girl sleeping besides her.</p><p>Heather was still fast asleep since she was the last of the two girls to fall asleep, her breathing was calm and peaceful as she slept in the tower, seeming to be extra comfortable sleeping next to Astrid.</p><p>Astrid smirks at the girl, and is about to head up to see what the weather was like before her ears are taken over by the sound of rain bucketing against the wood.</p><p>The sounds of lightning in the distance awoke Heather up from her slumber. <br/>"hmmm w-Whats going on?"</p><p>"storming really hard, we're definitely stuck here", Astrid explains, sitting back down next to the girl</p><p>"For how long do you think?" Heather asked stretching her arms as she stood</p><p>"a while by the looks of it", she admits, stretching. It was definitely a hardcore storm out there</p><p>"Damn.....<br/>Well at least we have each other to keep company"</p><p>Astrid grins at that, but the wording of it made her heart flutter. <br/>"Exactly. What do you want to do?"</p><p>"Well....I was thinking about last night a lot, and it got me thinking, after all this is over, and there are no more dragon hunters in the archipelago, I’m not really sure where to go after that"</p><p>Astrid tilts her head, slightly confused. What was she trying to say?<br/>"What? Heather, what are you trying to say?"</p><p>"I guess i just haven’t really ever thought about life without any kind of conflict really, all my life I’ve had all these different goals that I had to achieve whether it be rescuing my parents, hunting Dagur, defeating the dragon hunters, I’ve always lived with some kind of big grand objective that had to be completed and never really thought about what I personally want to do with my life"</p><p>"well then stay with us", Astrid says quickly, regretting how quickly she'd jumped to that answer. Why'd she sound so so eager? She was, to be honest, she wanted Heather to stay with them, but why was she so eager?</p><p>"What?" Heather asked<br/>"Like live with you guys, officially?"</p><p>Astrid nods quickly, grabbing the girls hand<br/>"Exactly. You know everyone else loves having you around, me included"</p><p>Heather looks down in thought running a hand through her hair in an almost blushing like matter. "a-are you sure Astrid? Would Hiccup approve? Would his dad approve?"</p><p>"you know they both love you, if course! Please?" It wasn't something Astrid normally did, if ever, begging. But this was her best friend, she wanted to to stay</p><p>"W-well I have been really happy living with you, and I guess all I wanted really was to find a real home.....ok, I’ll do it!" Heather said holding Astrid’s other hand with hers, and also not seeming to notice that she specifically said “living with you” in reference to Astrid alone, and not the rest of the dragon riders</p><p>Astrid smirks, laughing happily. She didn't really know what to say, this was just making her really really happy, and she tried to shake the thoughts running throughout her head</p><p>Heather smiled and hugged her best friend as tight as can be, almost seeming to cry out of joy for getting to live the rest of her life with her and her amazing friends on Berk. </p><p>"alright, so we don't somehow annoy each other and make you change your mind what do you want to do?" Astrid asks, pacing in front of Heather</p><p>"Hmmmm"<br/>Heather looked out to the stormy horizon, the waves crashing in the powerful ocean</p><p>"Out of curiosity, did you ever have a crush on someone before Hiccup?"</p><p>Astrid looks at the girl, surprised at the question, getting slightly flustered, but she couldn't figure out why. </p><p>"I don't know. I guess? It's complicated". Maybe she was starting to realise her feelings towards her best friend, but it was complicated</p><p>"Oh is it a sensitive topic? I’m sorry if I accidentally brought up some bad memories"</p><p>Astrid shakes her head , falling back onto the mountain of furs<br/>"It's just- I don't know how to explain it"</p><p>"Well you don’t have to if you don’t want to, we can talk about something else if you want"</p><p>"no, no, I'm fine. What about you? Anyone before Fishlegs?" She asks, genuine curiosity getting the better of her</p><p>"Hmmmmm there was someone, but can you promise me you won’t tell anyone?"</p><p>This definitely perked the girls interest, and she tilts her head as she runs a hand through her long hair. She nods gently<br/>"Of course"</p><p>"Well....", Heather giggled a little and blushed. "It might have been a girl"</p><p>Astrid's eyes widen, her bright blue meeting Heather's green. She didn't have anything wrong with that, but it wasn't something she was expecting. Her stomach tightens. <br/>"Who?" She asks, raising an eyebrow as she crosses her arms across her chest.</p><p>"Oh this girl I met long ago when I was riding solo, I met her at a market place and thought she was kind of pretty"</p><p>Astrid grins slightly, that story was pretty cute. <br/>"Does this girl have a name?" She asks, tilting her head.</p><p>"Oh it was so long ago but I think her name was along the lines of Roxanne or something"</p><p>Astrid giggles, biting her bottom lip. Ok, so this conversation was definitely silly, but she was enjoying it.</p><p>Heather noticed this and giggled as well.<br/>"what’s so funny?"</p><p>"you", is her answer. She doesn't know why she says that, but she does. And she realises for the first time that she wants to kiss her and she just doesn't know what to do anymore. </p><p>"Awwwww thank you", she said smiling gleefully back. </p><p>Astrid just smiles back, chewing her bottom lip, her stomach filled with uncertainty.</p><p>Another bolt of lightning came crashing down which caught Heather by surprise and she jumped into Astrid’s arms almost instinctively.</p><p>Astrid giggles at the girls action, poking her in the ribs in a teasing manner. <br/>"Scared Heather?" She teases, but wraps her arms around the girl nonetheless. </p><p>"N-no!! I was just caught by surprise!"</p><p>"mm sure, whatever you say then", she answers, rolling her eyes at the girl. </p><p>"Hmph....", Heather grunted but then seemed to nuzzle herself into Astrid’s arms. </p><p>Astrid blushes slightly, holding her breath as the other girl nuzzles into her. She didn't say anything though</p><p>Heather heard the usual sound of Toothless and his rider taking flight again. <br/>"ugh....not even a storm is enough to stop him"</p><p>"he's definitely relentless, I'm not flying with him in this weather though", she huffs, she did not feel like that today.</p><p>"He’s a great leader but I swear he gets so frustrating sometimes"</p><p>"he really is", she agrees, sighing, her hand unconsciously running up and down Heather's left arm. </p><p>Heather felt this and her heart began fluttering, she didn’t know why but she didn’t seem to care, in fact she really liked it. </p><p>"once this is all over, and you come stay with me, is there anyone you want to get to know?" She asks, not realising the use of me. She was trying to imply of Heather was currently pinning on anyone</p><p>"Mmm not really, I kind of just want to stay with you", he said clearly not thinking about her choice of words.<br/>"Although if I had to choose I definitely would want to meet your family"</p><p>Astrid laughs, but raises an eyebrow. Her family? Huh, she didn't even think about the answer, it's connotations giving her butterflies. </p><p>"Is there anyone on the edge you'd have a relationship with?" She asked suddenly, but didn't seem to regret asking it. </p><p>"I’m not really sure right now, <br/>We’ve been so focused on Viggo and stuff that I’ve never really thought about relationships anymore"</p><p>Astrid nods her head in understanding. <br/>"That's fair, all the guys here are not that amazing fir relationship anyway"</p><p>"Especially Snotlout, you’d have to be a total nut job to end up with him"</p><p>Astrid laughs, nodding her head<br/>"You really would!"</p><p>"Do you ever sometimes feel like you just want to run away sometimes, when you just can’t handle them anymore and want nothing more than to hop on your dragon and fly as far away?"</p><p>Astrid sighs. Heather was spot on right there. She knew exactly what the girl was talking about, and the amount of times she'd contemplated it was far too many to count<br/>"All the time", she admits. </p><p>"If given the opportunity, would you do it?"</p><p>"yeah, I think I would", she admits, nodding, leaning her head on Heather's shoulder. </p><p>"Me too....", was all Heather could say. </p><p>She sighs again, and fiddles with the braid in Heather's hair. <br/>"Can I do your hair?" She asks</p><p>"What?", Heather said, a little confused but kind of curious to let her. </p><p>"can I do your hair?" She repeats, giving the girl a small smile as she runs a hand through her own hair, still not having put it back up. </p><p>Heather smiled and blushed a little. "I-I guess if you want, I do need to wash it and dry later anyways". </p><p>Astrid hums, pulling the ribbon out of the girls hair and running her fingers through it.</p><p>Heathers heart fluttered as she felt her friends hand go through her hair, it felt nice</p><p>Astrid hums, letting her fingers brush out any knots in the girls hair, continuing to run her fingers through it. </p><p>"You're pretty good at this Astrid", Heather said to her as she worked through her hair. </p><p>Astrid laughs, nodding her head. <br/>"I do Ruff's hair whenever she can't do it herself"</p><p>"So all the time?", she joked</p><p>"a lot of the time", she agrees<br/>"But don't tell her I told you. I don't mind it though"</p><p>"I promise<br/>C-could you do this more often actually? I really like it"</p><p>Astrid feels her stomach flutter at that, and nods her head quickly. <br/>"Of course", she answers and begins to braid small braids i to the girls long Raven hair</p><p>Heather's own heart fluttered at Astrid’s movements through her hair.</p><p>"you're hair's very pretty" Astrid mumbles, working on another braid. </p><p>Her face turned red when she said that, luckily not being seen by Astrid since she was behind her. "thanks...."</p><p>The blonde runs a hand once again through the girls hair, moving so she was pushed up against her so she could work better. </p><p>Heather watched the horizon again while she waited and saw the Storm was cleaning off in the distance.</p><p>"how long until we can get out of here?" She asks, braiding again</p><p>"For sure before the end of the day"</p><p>"good- ei!" Astrid squeals, accidentally having lost         ballance and toppling onto Heather.</p><p>"Woah!", Heather said as the blonde fell on her knocking her forward. </p><p>"sorry!" The blonde squeals, wincing slightly. She scrambles to get off of the girl, blushing. <br/>"Did I hurt you?"</p><p>"I’m fine Astrid it’s ok", she said giggling a little helping the blonde up.</p><p>"ow, I'm not usually that clumsy, promise", she says, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.</p><p>"Hey it’s ok, we’re human after all", she answers with a smile but then suddenly her face turned more serious as she looked behind Astrid at something far into the ocean. </p><p>"what?" She asks, turning around. She couldn't see anything as her hair was still in her face. </p><p>"Over there", Heather said helping her clear some of her hair and pointing to the horizon where’s the Storm was clearing at what looked like smoke rising from the ocean. </p><p>"oh god, ok, come on, lets go check it out", she answers, pulling her hair into a ponytail as she helps Heather up. </p><p>Heather agreed nodding and began to pick up her things. <br/>"let’s just take Stormfly and go, the more we wait the less chance anyone there has"</p><p>Heather took her friend's hand and hopped on, wrapping her arms around her. <br/>"let’s go"</p><p>Astrid nods and tells Stormfly what to do, and it isn't long before they reach their destination. </p><p>When they got there the sight was one of pure horror to Heather, it was a dragon hunter ship, on fire and slowly sinking, the screams of the poor souls trapped inside the hull filled the air, and worse, not all of them were human, she had seen hunter ships destroyed before but never like this, this was a massacre.<br/>"oh my gods!!!"</p><p>"oh god, oh my god", Astrid winces, only able to look on as she clamps a hand over her mouth, eyes watering. </p><p>Heather hugs Astrid tight trying to look away from the horrors of what was in their sight, even Stormfly who had destroyed countless of dragon hunter ships was horrified at the destruction before her. </p><p>"lets- let's get out of here and..." She trails off, unable to even think of what to say as she urges Stormfly away and back to the edge.</p><p>"Wait! <br/>I think I heard something!"</p><p>Heather tries again to listen in between the horrible sounds of people and dragons screaming as the flaming wreckage is consumed by the ocean, finally she finds what she’s looking for, it’s a man, a hunter clinging on for dear life on a plank of wood just next to the sinking ship.</p><p>"Help.....me......please....."</p><p>"Stormfly, dive", Astrid says, trying not to let her voice crack as she gives the command. Stormfly does as told and scoops up the man gently. </p><p>To Heathers absolute terror, when they pulled him out of the water he came up, with one leg, the other having been seemingly cut clean off.<br/>"Holy shit.....", she whimpered in horror. </p><p>Astrid winces, chewing her bottom lip as she urges Stormfly back to the edge careful, her breathing ragged and shaky as she does so. </p><p>Heather thought about it and put a hand on her shoulder, looking down at him, he was just losing too much blood.<br/>"he’s not gonna make it back to the edge....set us down on the nearest spire...."</p><p>Astrid nods, doing as told. Stormfly lets out a distressed cry, whimpering as she sets the man down. <br/>"I can't, I'm sorry, I just can't", Astrid whimpers, turning around, walking towards the cliff. She couldn't watch this, she just couldn't. </p><p>Heather looks worryingly at her then looks down at the hunter, what scared her the most was the fear in his eyes.<br/>"w-who did this to you?"</p><p>"T...t-the l-l-lone dragon....hunter.....a-and....r-red devil.......d-dragon rider....n-no chance......r-run......as far......as you can......."</p><p>Astrid couldn't hear, refused to. She just couldn't put herself to do it, watch someone die like that she just couldn't do it. <br/>Stormfly cries out, shooting one shot, a rememberance shot, into the sky. </p><p>"Lone dragon hunter? Red devil? Who are they?"</p><p>"No!......d-DONT.......t-they will slaughter you..........no chance.......t-tell your leader........s-save yourselfs.......if they find you.......destroy......all....you....loved......."</p><p>After he muttered these last words he took one last groggy and awful breath before the last drop of blood in his body left him leaving him dead on the spire, soon after a massive explosion came from the ship, consuming all that remained inside, with only a smoking blackened Nadder spine landing on the spire next to Astrid’s feet.</p><p>Heather stood up her eyes shut tight, she couldn’t believe what she had heard, there was no way any human alive was capable of causing that.</p><p>Stormfly rubs her head against Heather's shoulder, gesturing for her to mount. </p><p>Heather stumbled onto her back thinking of what kind of monster could cause that much death and destruction, and worst of all, leave the dragons on board the ship to either burn or drown trapped in their cages, she began to cry. </p><p>Stormfly walks to her rider, Astrid pulling herself up and onto the dragon. She simply taps her, and they head for Astrid's hut, the blonde whimpering, cheeks red, tear stained. </p><p>Heather hugged Astrid super tightly, crying and scared of what she had witnessed. </p><p>They land at Astrid's hut and the blonde slides off the Nadder's back, and helps Heather down. She pulls herself and Heather into her hut. Stormfly lay at the door sadly. <br/>Astrid pulls her and Heather onto her bed, wrapping her arms around the girl.</p><p>Heather wasn’t even aware of what was happening, she had her eyes shut tight the whole time, tears streaming out of them. </p><p>Astrid just held her close, arms wrapped around the girl. She was still in shock, how could someone do that? Was it even possible?</p><p>"What in the name of Musphelheim and Niffleheim was that?!"</p><p>"I don't know", Astrid mumbles, eyes having gone from her usual bright blue to a darker grey colour.</p><p>"That can’t have been a hunter.....no human on earth could create such destruction"</p><p>"I don't know, I didn't see any drgaons capable of that in the area", she whispers, pulling her hair out of it's ponytail. </p><p>"The lone dragon hunter and the red devil.....that’s all he said....."</p><p>"then that's who did it", she answers, running a shaky hand through her hair.</p><p>"He said we had no chance......if they find us......everything we love will be destroyed....."</p><p>"Then we'll prove him wrong". Her answer is firm, strong  willed and determined. But she was honestly terrified. </p><p>They'd find these people, hunt them down, and put a stop to this. </p><p>"Astrid.....you saw what they did to that ship.....not even the strongest of the Berk fleet could come close to that"</p><p>"Then we'll be better than that", it's again stubborn. They needed a strong mind now. They would beat this enemy, they will win</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Hunt for the hunter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>How much can two girls take? How many times do they have to talk about it before everyone has had enough? How much longer?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been about three days since her and Astrid saw the massacred hunter ship, they had told hiccup and the other dragon riders after they returned to the edge so they could be aware of the existence of the two monstrous hunters the dying hunter talked about and avoid a possible encounter until a plan was formed, Hiccup however as usual said that he would try to come to a peaceful solution first as always before anything which frustrated Heather to no avail, the event having basically traumatized her. </p><p>Astrid sat on the platform of her hut, feet dangling over the edge. She still wasn't over what happened, she hasn't really talked much about it at all, or talked in general. </p><p> </p><p>Heather spent most of her time in the girls den which was only just a small chair so far, her mind trying desperately to erase those horrible images, but they kept replaying, over and over</p><p>Astrid stood, taking Stormfly to the den. She dismounts, Stormfly following her in. <br/>"Hey", she speaks softly as not to scare or startle the other girl</p><p>"H-hey......", Heather said quietly as she sat on the chair. </p><p>Astrid walks over slowly, Stormfly still following behind her. She takes a seat in the rocky ground</p><p>Heather had her arms wrapped around herself thinking of what they saw</p><p>Astrid just gazed at the painting of the night terrors on the wall. She was trying to think of some way to make the both of them feel better</p><p>"You don’t think he was right do you?", She asked suddenly</p><p>"I don't know. Something did it, maybe he was", she admits sighing. She still hasn't put her hair back in it's usual braid, it remained in a ponytail</p><p>"I meant, do you think he was right in saying we have no chance of defeating this new enemy? I mean you saw what they did to fully loaded hunter ship"</p><p>Astrid sighs. She was trying to remain positive, but that ship- she wasn't so sure anymore<br/>"I don't know anymore Heather"</p><p>"What if they come for the edge next? W-what if they come for us next?!"</p><p>"hey, hey, Heather, we'll be ok, we've got each other", she says, standing and walking towards the girl. She could tell now she liked her maybe more than she should</p><p>"I’m scared Astrid.....I’m so scared....."</p><p>"me too, to be honest. I don't know whats going to happen", she says, resting a hand on Heather's</p><p>Heather suddenly grabbed it with both of her hands and held it tight to her whimpering</p><p>Astrid looks at her, suprised, but does not speak. She wanted to reassure the girl next to her, hold her. And she really wanted to kiss her. <br/>She knew she shouldn't z they were just friend's. And hiccup would be so upset, and so would fishlegs if they found out. And the desire to kiss her wasn't helped by the fact that she knew Heather liked girl and this was just getting out of hand. She hated this</p><p>She began to cry from being so scared of the massacre, only able to imagine what would happen if whoever these hunters were set their sights on the edge</p><p>Astrid winces, the girls reaction hurting her. This wasn't fair, Heather had been through so much already, she did not deserve this. <br/>She moves so she's kneeling in front of the Raven girl, and takes both her hands in her own gently</p><p>Heather noticed this and looks at the blonde holding her hands, her diamond blue eyes seeming so comforting</p><p>"you're ok, we'll be ok. I'm here for you ok?" Astrid definitely wasn't usually the comforting type, but she felt compelled to try and help Heather. </p><p>She knew in this moment what she felt was more than just friendship. And she understood why what she'd been feeling for Hiccup had worn off. And she knew she couldn't keep pinning him along like this, she'd have to break up with him. </p><p>But right now she had to be here for Heather. The girl needed her and wether the Raven rider shared her feelings or not she wanted to help her</p><p>Heather shut her eyes tight and cried again hugging the blonde tightly. "please....don’t let them hurt me...."</p><p>Astrid winces again at the girls words. This wasn't freaking fair. It just wasn't!!! Heather didn't deserve this! </p><p>It was not ok. Stormfly watched on as his rider did something really unexpected. She thought she was mates with the night fury's rider Hiccup. </p><p>What Astrid did exactly, was impulsively reach a hand for Heather's cheek, pulling her in to kiss her gently.</p><p>Right before their lips met the sound of the riders leader calling out for them to meet at the clubhouse broke any tension that was happening, unfortunately Heather had her eyes closed from being so scared she didn’t notice what Astrid was doing</p><p>Astrid stumbles backwards, and sighs in dissapointment. Damn it! Fucking damn it. Of course. </p><p>"Come on, we should probably go", Astrid says, offering Heather her hand to take. <br/>Stormfly just tilts her head at the two curiously. Huh, humans were odd.</p><p>Heather nods nervously and takes her hand so they could go</p><p>They walk out, Stormfly following. Astrid jumps on the Nadder, holding a hand out for Heather to take</p><p>Heather seems to remain silent for the entirety of the short flight, not speaking a single word</p><p>They land at the clubhouse and Astrid holds Heathers hand as they enter</p><p>Heather seems pretty hesitant to enter the clubhouse, tugging at Astrid’s hand ever so slightly, the other riders were gathered around a table discussing the current situation about this new threat</p><p>"what? Heather, what is it?" She asks, stopping in her tracks. <br/>No matter how upset she was Astrid had never know Heather to not attend meetings unless she couldn't, or she was disagreeing with someone</p><p>"I-I don’t want to go in.....I’m kind of sick of talking about it...."<br/>She then seemed to look at hiccup, she seemed kind of sadder. "c-can you tell him I’m doing something important or something? Please Astrid?"</p><p>"yeah, do you want me to come with? We can just hang in my room or back in the den", she asks. She understood. She didn't want to recount all this again, it hurt too much</p><p>"I-I don’t know.....he seems to specifically want one of us in there.....I-I just can’t do it anymore.....sometimes it feels like he’s more concerned about the wild dragons than he is about us....."</p><p>"that's probably right, to be honest. He doesn't need us every meeting. I'll be right back", she slips in, telling hiccup they're busy before reappearing by Heather's side</p><p>"I don’t want to be here anymore...."Heather said holding her own arms again</p><p>"then lets get away. Where do you want to go?" Astrid asks</p><p>"Astrid?", Heather asked somewhat surprised that Astrid said that</p><p>"yeah?" She asks turning to face the Raven haired rider once more</p><p>"D-do you mean that? To just leave?"</p><p>She nods, giving the girl a grin. <br/>"Lets get out of here. We can come back later, or not. I'm sick of this"</p><p>"B-but they’ll come looking for us, and if they find us he won’t let us go out unwatched anymore"</p><p>"he can't do that", Astrid growls<br/>"We're allowed to do what we want, aren't we?"</p><p>"He already does.....why do you think he was eager to have me live in one of the other riders huts instead of my own"</p><p>"then we'll leave. He's a hypocrite. We're stronger than him, I'm sick of it. Stormfly", the Nadder lets her rider slide on. Windshear looks to Heather waiting.</p><p>"Astrid....I-I don’t know if I’m ready yet, if we try going now he’s gonna catch us easily having the fastest dragon out of all of us"</p><p>"come on", Astrid huffs, taking heathers hand, after sliding off her dragon. She leads the girl to her hut. </p><p>"We don't have to listen to him. We're allowed to do what we like, take what paths we like. He's not the cheif, and even if he was we don't have to stay here. He thinks he's better because he's got toothless"</p><p>"But he’s still our friend....right? He wouldn’t care, he would come after us and bring us back no matter what....or to be more precise....our dragons"</p><p>"a friend doesn't do this", Astrid says, her eyes falling. Maybe she was starting to see just how controlling the boy was getting</p><p>Heather looked down and sighed.<br/>"your right....but we need some kind of plan....something that makes sure we can get as far away before he tries to come look for us....."</p><p>"any ideas?" She asks, sighing. She looked around her hut. The home she'd made here, it just didn't fit anymore</p><p>"Well.....I know how annoyed he is with my habit of leaving without telling him....we can use that to our advantage.....if we make him think that I ran off alone again without telling him, he won’t immediately come looking for me until a few days....and when he starts getting frustrated about where I am....you volunteer to go out and look for me....but instead of bringing me back, we meetup at a certain island....and then....we fly away from him forever"</p><p>Listening carefully Astrid couldn't help but get excited. This is what she wanted, this is what she'd always wanted. Her own freedom. She nods her head<br/>"Ok, you go now. I'll stay. Where are we meeting up?" She asks</p><p>"The northern markets....its the least likely place anybody will expect us....I’ll hide in the woods  there and stay for a few days waiting for you....then we’re free"</p><p>"ok, stay safe yeah?" Astrid grins at her, but she wanted to say what she'd been thinking today. Just tell her. But she couldn't</p><p>Heather held her hands and looked into her eyes<br/>"I promise....were going to do this...."<br/>She smiled as Windshear waited nearby.<br/>"I’ll see you soon...."</p><p>"see you then", she waves, giving the girl a smile. She hated to see her go, even if she was going to see her in a few days. </p><p>Just before she left, Heather almost instinctively leaned forward and planted a soft small kiss on Astrid’s cheek before windshear took off for the northern markets with the raven haired girl</p><p>The girl blushed, unsure of why the girl had done that. Although she wasn't going to complain. <br/>--<br/>Three days later and Astrid was sitting in her hut, grooming Stormfly's scales</p><p> </p><p>Heather had hidden herself in the forest of the northern markets, eating mostly berries and food she could get in there for the three days while she waited for her friend to come to her so they could run away together. She occasionally scouted out the markets themselves to see if one of the other riders was there on an errand, the more she scouted however the more times she heard the same two names from the massacre being mentioned, the lone dragon hunter and the red devil.</p><p> </p><p>"Astrid-" Hiccup starts but Astrid cuts him off. </p><p>"I'll go find her. I'll be back once I manage to find her. Go back to your meeting", she says, and Hiccup just nods, returning to the clubhouse. <br/>Astrid had been packing up only the things she needed or wanted to take. It all fit into a saddle bag. <br/>She mounts stormfly, looking to the place and the people she once knew so well. They'd all changed so much. And yet now she was leaving them for a girl she once hated. </p><p>It really showed how much she was starting to change. It was her life, or give it up to Hiccup and the riders. And she just couldn't do that anymore. </p><p>With a gently nudge the Nadder took off over the ocean. It was a few hours before she arrived at the markets. She knew the looks she was getting from some hunters was because of her affiliation with the riders. <br/>"I'm not with them anymore", she huffs, rolling her eyes as she searched the place for Heather</p><p>Suddenly the hunters seemed to be getting nervous, in fact everyone seemed to start acting scared, even one of the hunters went up to her "hide! Before she sees you!"<br/>He pointed over to the ocean where a large and evil looking ship was coming to the docks.</p><p>"what?" Astrid didn't like the look of this. <br/>"Stormfly, follow". She and the dragon run deeper into the island, and she spots Windshear, and she jogs over<br/>"Heather", she greets the girl and her dragon</p><p>"Astrid!", Heather said excitedly running to her and hugging her tightly</p><p>Astrid embraces Heather, but shushes her.<br/>"There's a boat, I think it's them. The dragons, they need to get out of here", she whispers. <br/>"They see them and they'll kill them"</p><p>"What?!", Heather said scared<br/>"Y-you don’t mean…"</p><p>"yes!" She gestures for Stormfly to run, keep going in to opposite direction to the ship. Stormfly gives her a concerned look but does as told. She calls to Windshear to follow</p><p>"Fuck.....fuck! Why!", Heather said frustrated and angry</p><p>Windshear follows, the two dragons fleeing to the end of the island and hiding, ready to take off if necessary. <br/>"Calm down, if the dragons are gone and we don't anger whoever they are we'll be fine", she whispers</p><p>"What are we gonna do?! What if they’re here to massacre everyone here too? We need to get out of here now!"</p><p>"heather! Running now is only going to make us more of a target. We have to look nondiscreet", she says, trying to calm the girl. She wasn't sure what else to do</p><p>"We can’t let them see us.....they probably know who we are....and if they see us they’ll know our dragons are her"</p><p>"Heather! Calm down!" She knew the girl was panicking badly, that much was obvious. She needed her to stop talking so they didn't give themselves away. <br/>So without even thinking about any of the consequences she pushes herself to the other girl, connecting their lips</p><p>"Mmmmmm?!"<br/>Heather mumbled awkwardly as her and Astrid’s lips connected, her eyes going wide having been caught by surprise, but suddenly....they closed, and her hands wrapped themselves around the girl</p><p>Astrid giggles slightly, resting a hand on the girls cheek. The other rests in the girls hair, raking through the Raven locks. Ok, well, this was an unexpected reaction from the girl, but she definitely was not going to complain</p><p>After a while of lip locking they separated, Heathers face completely red, but a smile on her face. </p><p>Astrid grins, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. Her cheeks her slightly pink, and she looks down. <br/>"So, um"</p><p>"That..that was nice…", she said rubbing her arm</p><p>"I- um- so-" she stuttered. Astrid Hofferson did not stutter, never in her life. At least not until today</p><p>Heather was about to speak when a scream could be heard coming from the markets.<br/>"No!!! Let me go!!! I-I promise I’ll pay up when I get the gold!!!!"</p><p>Astrid winces, covering Heather's mouth with her hand. <br/>"Be quiet, ok? We're going to pretend like we snuck out here to make out".</p><p>That last part made Heather blush again but she understood what Astrid was saying, listening to the sounds at the market<br/>"Please I beg of you!!! I don’t have it yet!!!"</p><p>"kiss me", she whispers, pulling the girl by the front of her shirt, standing now nose to nose with her. Heather needed a distraction, and apparently this was the right one</p><p>W-what?", Heathers asked completely red now</p><p>"You know the deal fucker.....you want the pelts....you pay up....with gold or your life"</p><p>"kiss me", Astrid repeats, a stubborn demand to her voice. Despite what they could her behind them she couldn't help but smirk at Heather's reaction</p><p>Heather looked at the sounds nervously then began to kiss the blonde. Her eyes open however looking in the direction of the voices scared even more<br/>"I wasn’t expecting you back so soon!!"</p><p>"And? Like I said, when we made the deal, we’re not your average hunters, we do things more efficiently, isn’t that tight babe?"</p><p>"Mmhm and you definitely don’t want to fuck with us...so pay up"</p><p>"don't", Astrid whispers, pushing the Raven haired girl back until her back comes into to contact with a large oak tree. Ok, so hunters, both of which are obviously dangerous, and who seem to be together in more ways than one. <br/>She knew this was dangerous, but with their dragons gone, this was the best distraction and cover she could come up. Plus, they were both enjoyed it so who cared?</p><p>On the spot where Astrid pushed Heather against she could barely see what was going on there through the trees, she couldn’t see the two hunters but she could see the man they were taking to.<br/>"I can’t! I don’t have the gold with me"</p><p>"Welp in that case, burn it down"</p><p>"What?!! No you ca—"<br/>The man was suddenly grabbed by the neck and slowly lifted up into the air by it</p><p>"You had two options motherfucker.....pay with gold...or your life....and you chose life"</p><p>"Heather, here. My eyes are here", she teases. She was just trying to get the girl to pay attention to her instead of what was no doubt about to happen. </p><p>She pushes Heather's cheek gently so her own blue eyes met Heather's emerald green ones. She rests a hand on Heather's chest gently</p><p> </p><p>"Astrid.....I’m so fucking scared......"<br/>The man grasped at the hand that held his neck, desperately trying to get her to stop, he kept lifting into the air as a fire began behind him</p><p>"I know, I am too. But they won't hurt us as long as we pose no threat", she mumbles, giving the girl a reassuring smile</p><p>"That man posed no threat....."<br/>His arms began to fall dead as she tried to beg, his eyes becoming bloodshot from the choking of his neck, which began to break from the force of the hand. </p><p>"I know, but they'll kill us too if we try to run or intervene", she whispers, giving the girl another reassuring smile as she presses her lips to Heathers</p><p>Heather shut her eyes when she kissed her again, trying to focus on Astrid but she couldn’t take her eyes off of it</p><p>"Babe...mind getting your girl? Tell her we have a treat for her"<br/>One of the mystery hunters said as she literally crushed the mans neck completely closing her fist as it exploded in blood, his headless body falling to the floor along with his head</p><p>"Heather, please. You'll just upset yourself by watching" Astrid says, pulling away. <br/>"We can't do anything". While she was actually tough, like she didn't care, she was cracking on the inside.</p><p>"They...they...just crushed his neck...."<br/>A shadow flew over their head that seemed similar to the night fury which, however it landed next to the hunter....it wasn’t a night fury....it was white....but it had a horrible collar on its neck with needles....and it’s eyes were dead black as she grabbed the mans corpse off the ground and began eating it viciously. </p><p>"Heather, stop watching. They'll no doubt be angry about it", Astrid mutters, chewing her bottom lip nervously.</p><p>"Astrid we need to run"</p><p>"heather, if we run they'll chase us", Astrid points out.</p><p>"But if we stay here, they might find us! And Thor help us if they find Stormfly and Windshear"</p><p>"They'll find us anyway! Did you see what they did to that ship?" </p><p>"Then what the fuck do you suggest we do?!"<br/>Heather beginning to hyperventilate. </p><p>"What possible reason did they have for leaving those dragons to drown?!"</p><p>"they're hunters! Everything about dragons is a reason", Astrid points out, and moves so they can no longer see anything of the two hunters.</p><p>"They’re not normal hunters.....and did you see that dragon they had?"</p><p>"yes! I did, and that's my point. They don't like dragons ok? We need to stop freaking out or they'll know we have something to hide"</p><p>"What do we do....I’m so scared...."</p><p>"we need to act like we don't have anything to hide. We need to pretend we are no threat"</p><p>Heather heard the sound of trees shuffling and an evil sounding dragon growl. "Fuck…."</p><p>"kiss me, hurry up", Astrid is quick to shove the girl back against the tree and kiss her, trying to make it look like they'd just snuck off to make out.</p><p>Heather was too scared she just went for it shutting her eyes tight.</p><p>Astrid's breathing was soft, but uneven. While the unevenness was from fear she could pass it off as neves, which wasn't a lie.</p><p>The sounds of growling and trees brushing came closer and closer and closer.<br/>"Babe over here, Fear’s catching something"</p><p>"shhh", Astrid whispers, and keeps her lips to Heathers gently.</p><p>Heathers heart was beating faster and faster as the sounds approached.</p><p>Astrid rests a hand on Heather's cheek reassuringly. Either way they'd be found, this was the better way.</p><p>The growl became closer and suddenly angrier, they found the.</p><p>Astrid gasps, putting on her best act. Ok, act suprised. That's how they had to play this. <br/>The blonde pulls away from Heather, turning around quickly. She blushes, looking to the massive dragon. Be scared but not in an obvious way.</p><p>Heather was already scared out of her mind so she didn’t really even need to act</p><p>"umm, hi?" Astrid acted dumb. She winces at that line. Wow Astrid, great acting.</p><p>The evil looking black eyed dragon stared at them angrily, as a pink haired girl in red and green armour and a redheaded girl in black and yellow armour and the most evil looking scar on her left eye stood before them, they were now face to face with both The Lone Dragon Hunter and The Red Devil, they were facing death itself.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Loss of her wings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Apologies if the formatting is weird or if there are any editing errors! I kinda half arsed the editing and the formatting is always weird on my phone.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The two hunters and the evil looking dragon looked at the two dragon riders closely, Heather knew that these people did absolutely not mess around, and the fact that they were the ones who caused the great and horrible massacre of that dragon hunter ship from a few days ago was making her heart beat at almost unnatural levels, not to mention she watched them literally crush a man’s neck with a single hand</p><p>"I uh- we, umm", Astrid stutters out. It was easy to be awkward, to pretend, the stuttering easy as she was honestly terrified. It was easy to cover the terror with awkwardness.</p><p>The red haired girl with the horrifying scar walked up to them with her arms crossed eyeing them very closely <br/>“So, what are you two girls doing out here in the woods?”</p><p>“Uhhh...well....we were.....”</p><p>"uh, we- we where uh...", Astrid stutters out, blushing slightly. Ok, this was also actually slightly awkward. She wasn't exactly sure she wanted to admit she was making out with the raven haired girl next to her</p><p> </p><p>“Ahem”</p><p>The pink haired girl called out</p><p>“My girlfriend asked you a question”</p><p>“Oh!! Uhh m-my bad miss....w-we we’re just out here in the woods b-because we wanted to.....m-make.....”</p><p>Heather was struggling super hard to finish her sentence</p><p>Astrid winces at her now girlfriend's sentence. At least, that's what they were, right?<br/>Ugh, not the time to think about that Astrid. </p><p>She shakes the thought before intertwining their fingers, making it more obvious about the relationship between them. </p><p>"We snuck out here because we wanted to make out", Astrid answers strongly, but it didn't stop the pink tinge appearing along her neck and cheeks</p><p>Heather tried to pull off an innocent smile, but the scar on the redhead’s face and the black eyes blood covered dragon that stood before them were seriously making that difficult to do. It didn’t help either as the pink haired girl stroked the dragons needle collar in such an evil way nor did it help when neither of the two hunters faces changed from their suspicious looks </p><p>“Is that so? Cause Fear here seems to disagree....”</p><p> </p><p>"I uh- you're dragon, Fear, is kinda terrifying though", Astrid adds, pointing to the absolute terrifying dragon before them. She gulps, looking to her girlfriend</p><p>The dragon growled at them as it looked around, seeming to be looking for something</p><p>“Yeah, her name’s Fear, that’s kind of the point here, she’s the most loyal little slave I know…”<br/>The girl said stroking her head</p><p>“And don’t forget babe, also the deadliest, mmmm the way she devours whoever we tell her to, and she’s so obedient she never questions anything”<br/>The other girl said looking at the dragon</p><p>Astrid clamps Heather's hand tightly. She didn't want to make any wrong moves, wanted to keep up conversation though to show they were no threat. </p><p>"What- what is she? I- she's like a nightfury, but white?"</p><p>“She’s a light fury....or....at least was one.....now she’s our obedient little dragon slave.....isn’t that right girl?”</p><p>The pink haired girl said stroking the dragons head which didn’t respond, in fact it seemed to have no emotion, except anger</p><p>Astrid tilts her head. She was terrified, yes, but also intrigued. She'd never seen that type of dragon before. It was.... odd. And erg, all shw could think of is how Hiccup would be all over this dragon. She hated him, why did he always appear in his thoughts?</p><p>“She’s quite the killer....and the tracker too....she can smell and find almost any kind of dragon from here to the next four islands.....which is interesting, because she led us to the two of you”</p><p>The redhead said moving her hand to her sword</p><p>“So I’m not entirely convinced you came out here just to make out.....”</p><p>Astrid looks to Heather. Ok, this wasn't going to work. But if they told, their dragons were for sure dead. But lying would no doubt would result in far more worse punishment than if they just straight up told them</p><p>Heather was practically paralyzed by fear, she simply could not even fathom the idea of giving her dragon up, especially because she knew they would kill them if they found them....and she couldn’t even imagine what they would do to Windshear</p><p>“N-no!! W-we really came out here to make out!! W-we can prove it to you....R-right....b-b-Baby?”</p><p>She said turning completely red</p><p>Astrid raises an eyebrow at Heather, tilting her head at the girl. She was confused on what Heather meant by "proving", it. The thought made her blush a deeper shade of red. </p><p>"R-right". She leads closer to Heather<br/>"What do you mean?" She whispers</p><p>Heather didn’t say anything and began to kiss her right in front of the two deadly hunters, hoping desperately that this would convince them that they were telling the truth, she was trying to give it her all and really make love to the blonde to make it more convincing</p><p>"oh", is Astrid's response, feeling Heather's lips hit hers. And while she enjoyed it, she couldn't help shake the terror of what would happen if these hunters found out they were lying</p><p>It seemed to be working, or not since the only difference in the two hunters faces was one of them raised her eyebrow, the dragon still was sniffing around growling louder</p><p>Eventually Astrid pulls away, blushing like a complete mess. It was odd, to see a such a usual strong headed girl fall apart awkwardly like that. <br/>"I- uh, umm", she stutters, looking to her feet, running a hand through her pony tail. She hadn't been able to make herself braid it, it just reminded her of Hiccup again. The braid was his favourite</p><p>“S-see? W-were telling the truth honestly”<br/>She said wrapping her arms around Astrid and pulling her close to try and be more convincing but also because if these hunters saw through their lie and killed them on the spot she wanted to be with the person she cared about the most....which was Astrid, right?</p><p>Astrid gulps, looking up, giving an awkward embarrassed smile. Well, that was definitely new, right? <br/>For sure, but, uh, what now. <br/>"We, um, ah...."</p><p>The two hunters looked at them intensely for a bit longer, almost seeming to be about to kill them</p><p>“Well...I guess this was a big misunderstanding, Fear probably just smelled some decaying dragon I guess”<br/>The redheaded suddenly said much to the dragons confusion</p><p>“We’ll be on our way then, have fun with each other girls”<br/>The pink haired girl said before the two of them began to walk away with the dragon following, but giving the two riders one last evil glare</p><p>Astrid didn't dare move yet. She knew they shouldn't move until the hunters were gone from the island. <br/>"Wow", she mumble, turning to grin at Heather. </p><p>"Did I tell you how much I love you?"</p><p>Heather was still practically frozen from fear in her heart, it didn’t seem like she had heard her, although she did and her heart at this rate was beating so fast that it was practically still</p><p>"hey, babe, calm down", the blonde mutters, running a hand through Heather's hair, pulling at the ribbon that was holding her hair in it's braid. It comes undone, and Astrid smiles at the sight. <br/>"You should wear your hair down more often"</p><p>“Y-you really think so?”<br/>Heather said blushing and calming down faster with Astrid’s soft hands going through her hair</p><p>"yes, you look so pretty", she mumbles, continuing to run her hair through Heather's hair. Her blonde hair clashed with the girls black</p><p>Heather let out a smile as the blonde girl spoke, she had never been called pretty before, since she and Fishlegs really never got to spend much time together thanks to Hiccups war with Viggo he never called her any beautiful names like Astrid did</p><p>"really. You're stunning. I love you", she mutters, her arms wrapping around the girls waist as she presses their lips together again</p><p>Heathers heart was exploding from what she was hearing, like this was all she ever wanted her whole life, to be right here doing this with Astrid</p><p>When the blonde pulls away she gives the girl the biggest grin, smiling happily at her. <br/>"I've wanted this for a while you know?"</p><p>“Y-you have?”<br/>Heather said surprised she felt the same</p><p>"Yeah, I have. And- and I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. But with Hiccup around ...", She trails off</p><p>Heather put her finger on Astrid’s lips<br/>“shhh let’s not talk about him ever again.....we’re done with all of this....we’re going to start anew, together.....”</p><p>Astrid seems to light up at hearing this. She was done with him, with them. She was done with listening to orders from someone who only wanted her for her skills. <br/>"I'd love that"</p><p>Heather smiled and was about to speak again when she heard the sound of their two dragons whimpering a little, they probably saw the whole thing, including....that demonic dragon</p><p>"wait", Astrid knew Heather was going to go to them. <br/>"We have to wait until their ship, and them, are out of sight"</p><p>“Astrid their scared....we have to at least comfort them”</p><p>"Heather, we don't know if they're gone yet", Astrid says. <br/>"If they spot us with them they will kill us"</p><p>“I’m not gonna take off Astrid, I just want to comfort her in the cave”</p><p>"I don't know ...", The girl trails off. She wasn't even sure if that was a good idea</p><p>Stormfly being the tracker class dragon she was was actually able to remember the scent she had smelled back when they had seen the massacre, she had smelt it again on the evil light fury which made the Nadder very upset</p><p>"we need to know if they're gone yet", Astrid says. <br/>"They could be scouting the island, they could catch us if they're still here"</p><p>“Mmmm your right.....fuck that was....the scariest moment of my life.....it was just two of them.....and they caused all that destruction....”</p><p>"I know, but we'll just stay out of their way ok?" Astrid whispers, Leaning against the tree before sliding to the ground</p><p>Heather sighed and sat next to Astrid leaning against her</p><p>“You know....I think we should go all the way....”</p><p>Astrid tilts her head, raising an eyebrow of confusion at the girl. She didn't seem to understand what she meant</p><p>“We should leave the archipelago altogether.....”<br/>Heather said again</p><p>Astrid seems to agree with this quickly, nodding her head. <br/>"Please". She seemed to want to get as far away from here as possible</p><p>“I’ve always wanted to see the rest of the world....what kind of people live out there....what kind of new dragons we might find....what kind of life we could live”<br/>Heather said sliding her hand on top of Astrid’s</p><p>Astrid looks to the girls hand before smirking. <br/>"Me too. Come on, lets go check if they're still here. We can pretend we're waiting for a boat"</p><p>“I don’t know....if I see them again....I don’t know if could handle seeing that “thing” again”<br/>She said a little nervous regarding the dragon they had</p><p>"I'll go. You stay here and pack up, ok babe?" She says, smirking at her use of the word babe directed at Heather</p><p>“O-ok....”<br/>She said turning red, she was still trying to process everything that had happened</p><p>Astrid stands, disappearing out of sight onto the beach. She breathes out. Wow, that actually happened. Damn. </p><p>She shakes it, looking up and down the beach for the two</p><p>The giant evil ship seemed to be gone, the only trace of the two hunters was a burning store shack and the mangled guts and flesh of the man they killed and literally fed to the dragon.....that damn dragon.....it was the embodiment of what everyone used to think all dragons were like before Hiccup lead Berk to making peace with them</p><p>"ok, gone", she mutters, and heads back towards Heather. </p><p>"Babe, they're gone. Lets go get the dragons yeah?" She asks, helping Heather up off of the ground</p><p>“Yeah....and let’s get the fuck out of this fucking archipelago....” She said getting up</p><p>Astrid laughs at the girls use of language. She knew the girl didn't cuss often, and it was rather funny to hear</p><p>“What?”<br/>Heather asked curiously at the girls cute laugh</p><p>"you're adorable. Now come on", she says, helping the girl up. They tread towards the dragons</p><p>Stormfly still seemed rather upset remembering the horror she witnessed a few days ago, and now seeing the ones responsible, what she remembered most was the screams of the dragons as the ship slowly sank beneath the ocean</p><p>"hey girl, calm down. They're gone", Astrid whispers gently, reaching a hand out to the Nadders snout.</p><p>As Heather began to get Windshear ready to fly she began to think <br/>“y-you don’t think we should warn them about those two?”</p><p>"who? Hiccup and the gang?" She asks, tilting her head at the girl.</p><p>“Well....them and Berk as well.....we might be leaving them forever but....if these two hunters do go for them and they never had a chance to prepare.....I don’t know I guess it’s just my good girl side speaking”</p><p>"but we have to think about this. Hiccup will no doubt be looking for us. We have to send a note", Astrid suggests. Hiccup would try to trap them back there if they went back themselves</p><p>“We’d need to find and train a mail terror to send to him and that could take time, time for him to find us”</p><p>"and we need to send it from an island, but we need to be long gone first, or else they'll be sure to track us like they tried to with you"</p><p>“Well....what if we went back to Berk under the guise that he sent us and pretend that were going back to the edge when in reality we’re leaving forever”</p><p>Astrid thinks about this for a minute and nods her head. That was smart actually, a very good idea.</p><p>"That's a good idea"</p><p>“I just hope they didn’t go there to look for us”</p><p>"they won't, or they will have already and we aren't there. Should we go now, or?"</p><p>If you want</p><p>She held Astrid’s hand <br/>“I’ll follow you anywhere”</p><p>Astrid grins at the girl, kissing her quickly before she mounts stormfly.</p><p>"Let us go then"<br/>Heather smiled as she mounts Windshear, her feelings for Astrid growing every passing moment</p><p>Astrid nudges Stormfly up, the dragon seeming less upset now she was back with her rider</p><p>Heather helped Windshear our of the cave and they prepared themselves for takeoff</p><p>"hopefully Stoick hasn't heard about us leaving", Astrid says</p><p>“He won’t, it’d be too embarrassing for Hiccup to tell him that he lost two riders”</p><p>Heather said jokingly</p><p>Astrid snorts, nodding her head. She had a point, she knew Hiccup wouldn't go calling to his father if he could help it</p><p>Razorwhip prepared her wings for liftoff, the second they left the ground their new lives would begin <br/>“ready Astrid.....my love?”</p><p>Astrid grins at the nickname.<br/>"Always. Lets go". This was it, after Berk they were gone for good</p><p>Razrowhip lifted into the sky, the air breezy through Heathers loose raven hair as they took to the skies, they were so close now</p><p>"you know, I never imagined I'd do something like this", Astrid muses, pulling her hair back into a ponytail</p><p>“Neither did I.....Astrid....I…”</p><p>Before Heather could keep speaking suddenly Windshear screamed in pain and began losing control and fall into the ocean.....where the evil ship was waiting firing ballista and arrows at the riders</p><p>"fuck, oh my god! Heather!" The blonde nudges Stormfly into a dive, trying to catch the rider as she fell</p><p>“Come on Windshear!! Focus”<br/>Heather said pulling back hard in the harness to try and pull Windshear up into a glide, if they couldn’t regain control they could try making a soft landing in the ocean <br/>“fuuuuuck!!!!!”</p><p>"oh god, oh my god, this was a bad idea", Astrid leans over, reaching a hand towards the rider to try and grab her before they hit the water</p><p>There we’re still arrows and ballista firing at them which would make it harder for Astrid to grab her</p><p>“WINDSHEAR!!!!!”</p><p>Heather screamed as the dragon tried spreading its wings hoping to catch some lift to enter a glide</p><p>"come on, come on, Heather! Grab my hand, I'll catch you!" The blonde yells, nearing the girl as Stormfly continues her dive towards the raven haired rider</p><p>a ballista bolt flies right between them, they were getting closer to hitting them</p><p>“COME ON!!!!”</p><p>Heather pulls back as hard as she can and Windshear barely manages to enter a glide flying a few feet above the ocean....and right for the ship</p><p>"Heather! No! Look out", Astrid calls. She had to think fast, or else this wasn't going to end well.</p><p>"Stormfly, you need to catch us ok?" Without further explanation the blonde jumps from her drgaons to try and reach the other girl</p><p>A ballista bolt flew right next to her which would have caused her momentum to falter and throw the girl off course, these hunters were not bad shots bay any means necessary</p><p>“Fuck....we’re not gonna be able to land in time....we have to get past it, Astrid! Your gonna have to catch us on the other side!</p><p>Grabbing the girls hand Stormfly grabs Astrid's free arm,. pulling her up. She watches Windshear land in the water.</p><p>They were just passing above the ship as this happened, the razorwhip landing in the ocean on the other side, but what happened next....it was only a second, but Heather would never forget the image of the Scarred hunter jumping from the side of the mast toward her and tackling her to the deck of the ship her taking the biggest impact</p><p>"fuck! No", she pulls herself back onto stormfly's back, pushing the dragon up making sure she didn't get hit.</p><p>Heather groaned as she tried to regain her composure, it happened so suddenly her vision was a bit blurry<br/>“fuck....”</p><p>"Oh god, fuck. I don't know- oh god, come on Astrid, think of something, come on"</p><p>As her vision cleared she quickly began to realize just what her situation was, she was surrounded by a bunch of men and women, holding their weapons out towards her making sure she didn’t try any funny business....and they were standing right next to her looking down</p><p>“Heh...dragon riders....just as predictable as we thought”</p><p>"oh god, come on Astrid! You can't leave her there", she mutters to herself.</p><p>"In this together". She looks around, trying to think of something to do to save her girlfriend</p><p> </p><p>“Oh fuck.....oh fuck!”</p><p>Heather said as she saw the two hunters look down on her</p><p>“What should we do with her babe?”</p><p>“Hmmm well she’s kind of a disappointment from what I heard about the riders....they were supposed to be much more tougher than this little bitch....”</p><p>“Windshear…”</p><p>Heather immediately remembered <br/>“Windshear!!”</p><p>She tried to get up only to get a kick right to the face knocking her down</p><p> </p><p>Astrid whimpers slightly at the sight, but shakes it off. She had to do something. She had to say something to get them to stop.</p><p>With a sigh she makes Stormfly dive for the ship, landing on the deck.</p><p>"Stop! Stop, I can tell how much you hate us, that much is obvious. But you have to understand we aren't part of that rider gang anymore, we were trying to get away"</p><p> </p><p>The ship simply proceeded to fire again at her trying take the Nadder down</p><p>“Please!! Where’s is my dragon?!”</p><p>This question only got her another kick in the face</p><p>“You shut your fucking mouth little rider bitch!”</p><p> </p><p>"i said stop!" Astrid yells, stormfly throwing a massive amount of spikes around the ship. They'd been practicing this one.</p><p>"Listen ok. Just give me a minute to explain"</p><p>The pink haired girl grabs Heather and puts a knife to her throat and looks up at Astrid “back off or your little bitch gets it!!”</p><p> </p><p>"ok, ok! Listen, we aren't part of the riders group anymore ok?" She says, stepping back with Stormfly as she holds her arms in the air</p><p> </p><p>“So? You two still ride these stupid things, who cares who your with, a dragon is a dragon, now I’ll only ask one more time, back off or your bitch gets it”</p><p>The girl said putting the blade right at Heathers neck, the other troops aiming their weapons at Astrid</p><p> </p><p>"Ok, what do you want me to do?" Astrid asks, keeps her arms up as she keeps backing away. She didn't know what else to do at this point</p><p> </p><p>“First...your gonna get that lizard of yours to not even think of firing those spines at us”</p><p>The scarred girl said drawing her own sword out and pointing it at Astrid, the sword was an absolutely beautifully made looking weapon, it was evil looking too just like its wielder, the blade covered in blood</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>"ok, ok, yes", she turns to stormfly, shaking her head st the dragon. She does some type of hand gesture, getting the nadder to lower her tail</p><p> </p><p>“Good girl....now”</p><p>The pink haired girl threw Heather down on her knees</p><p>“On your knees.....”</p><p> </p><p>Astrid watches on, watching as Heather is shoved to the ground. Although she didn't dare speak, knowing if she did it may end badly for Heather</p><p> </p><p>The pink haired girl drew her own sword and put it to Heathers neck, however since Astrid hadn’t done what she asked, this got her a kick to her legs from the other girl <br/>“my girlfriend asked you to get on your knees bitch!”</p><p> </p><p>"ow! Ok! Sorry", she mutters, falling onto her knees, hands laying palm down on the wood underneath her. Stormfly didn't move as she normally would, getting the feeling it would be a bad idea</p><p>Heather looked to Astrid scared out of her mind, the whole time she thought they had fooled the hunters....the hunters had fooled them, they knew the whole time, and her and Astrid walked right into their trap</p><p> </p><p>"what do you want me to do", Astrid asks, looking down as not to anger anyone anymore than she already had</p><p> </p><p>“Arms behind your backs, both of you!”</p><p>The hunters commanded</p><p> </p><p>Astrid just nods, placing her arms behind her back without protest. She was stubborn, but not stupid. She did as she was told when her life was at stake</p><p> </p><p>The scarred girl ordered some of the men to tie the two riders up so they couldn’t escape</p><p> </p><p>Astrid winces at the feeling of hands pulling her up so they can tie her, and looks to Heather</p><p> </p><p>Heathers panic begins to slowly start again, the image of the man from the massacre fresh in her mind being made worse by now being handled by the very people who caused it</p><p> </p><p>Astrid clamps her jaw shut, knowing that is she even dared mutter something she may end up dead. Instead she shoots Heather a reassuring smile</p><p> </p><p>While the two riders are being dragged away somewhere on the ship, the pink haired girl ordered some of the crew to chain Stormfly up and cage her and recover the hurt Windshear from the water</p><p> </p><p>Astrid winces, watching her dragon panic and try to fight. She knew this would end badly if her dragon hurt a crew member.</p><p>"Stormfly! Calm girl", she calls over her shoulder, the dragon listening to her rider</p><p> </p><p>"Obedient one, good girl"<br/>The scarred girl who was dragging her said, the two riders were being carried over to a metal bar that seemed to be hanging over the ship, above the water</p><p> </p><p>Astrid looks to Heather, eyes wide. They were no longer their beautiful bright blue but a darker merkyer blue, cloudy and almost grey</p><p> </p><p>Heather was crying, trying to think of what happened to her precious dragon, and what might happen to her and Astrid, right in the verge of their new lives...the hunters pulled out what looked like pure spherical iron weights with rope attached to them....and began to tie one to both the riders feet</p><p> </p><p>Astrid winces. Ok, now this was pretty obvious what was going to happen. They were going to drown them. She wanted to comment about how inhuman this was, but that was for sure going to end badly so she doesn't dare</p><p> </p><p>Just before they tie the weights to their feet Heather hears a sound she never thought she would dread hearing, the sound of a speeding night fury</p><p> </p><p>"oh god, what?" Astrid winces, looking up. If it was Hiccup they were trapped either way, but she knew he must likely didn't stand a chance</p><p> </p><p>Heather looked up and saw not just him, but all the riders coming, she took this as an opportunity to headbutt the guy holding her then caught the scarred girl by surprise freeing Astrid from her grasp, she may as well take the only opportunity she knew they had to escape</p><p> </p><p>Astrid follows Heather's lead, trying not to think about what would come after if they did indeed manage to escape. She manages to kick the guy trying to tie the weights to her and follows Heather</p><p> </p><p>Heather manages to spot her weapon and deploys the second blade as the riders blast the ship and the ship fires back</p><p> </p><p>Astrid grabs her Axe from where it had fallen earlier, and pants. Could they risk trying to get to their dragons?</p><p> </p><p>Heather knew their best bet was to free Stormfly, with the riders distracted hopefully they could rescue Windshear and fly away</p><p> </p><p>"ok, lets go". Astrid runs down the stairs of the ship, and Stormfly hadn't been completely chained yet</p><p> </p><p>Heather runs with her, knocking guys out of the way with her weapon, she may not be a rider anymore but she still honoured Hiccups wishes to not kill as much as possible</p><p> </p><p>Astrid keeps pulling at chains before being able to free the Nadder. Freeing her from the chains Astrid pulls herself onto Stormfly's back, holding out a hand to help Heather up with her</p><p> </p><p>right before Heather can grab her hand she was suddenly knocked back by the scarred girl, who strangely had not drawn her weapon yet</p><p>"Fuck!!!"<br/>She shouted as she got knocked back</p><p> </p><p>"damn it! Stormfly, spines!" At the command the Nadder throws the spines at the other woman, many spines being thrown at once</p><p> </p><p>The spines were blown away by a plasma blast, one that did not come from the night fury, the demonic light fury growled at Astrid and Stormfly with the pink haired girl on top of her</p><p>"Uh-uh you ain’t getting off this ship that easy<br/>Fear, kill"</p><p>The light fury growled ready to attack, Heather knew what was going to happen</p><p>"Oh no....<br/>ASTRID!!! RUN!!!"</p><p>"no! I'm not leaving. Stormfly", Astrid signs something to the Nadder, this sign Heather hadn't seen before. It seemed to be a new one.</p><p>Stormfly shoots spines before firing fire at them, causing them to melt slightly, but keep flying towards the dragon.</p><p> </p><p>The Light Fury literally just jumped towards the projectiles and not even flinching as it flew right at Astrid, if she didn’t move, she and Stormfly would be devoured alive</p><p>"ASTRID!!!!"</p><p> </p><p>"Ok! Be careful!" With that Astrid pulls Stormfly away, leading her out of the bottom of the ship and out into the open</p><p> </p><p>The light fury with her evil rider took off after them, the chase was on</p><p>Back on the ship the scared girl walked slowly towards Heather as she went for her weapon</p><p>Noble of you I’ll give you that, but very very foolish</p><p>"I just need to hold you off long enough....AHHHHH!!!"<br/>Heather charged the girl</p><p> </p><p>"come on Stormfly, remember what I taught you", Astrid mumbles. This dragon was extremely fast, but being drugged surely meant it lost some agility, hopefully giving Astrid the upper hand</p><p> </p><p>The venom that drugged the poor light fury seem to make it obey whatever the girl told it without question, and it made it completely emotionless</p><p>When Heather attacked the girl simply moved to the side like it was nothing, Heather charged again and the girl dodged her again still not drawing her weapon</p><p>‘’Come one little rider, don’t tell me that’s all you got’’</p><p>"ok Stormfly, we need a plan, we need to lure them away", she says, and suddenly Stormfly picked up speed, soaring in front of the light fury</p><p> </p><p>Right as the two dragons flew, Hiccup passed them on the right, the look he had in his face was one that seemed to be of anger and disappointment that turned to shock when he saw Astrid’s pursuer</p><p>Heather kept trying to attack the hunter, but no matter what angle she came from, no matter what form of attack she tried, this hunter seemed to know how to avoid every single attack she made, she was toying with her so obviously but Heather needed to buy Astrid time</p><p>Astrid ignored the look on the boys face, keeping up the chase. She found some sea stacks. This would be a good opportunity.</p><p>She gives into them, flying in, out and about the giant stacks. She'd trained Stormfly in this, so she knew the dragon wouldn't get confused or dizzy</p><p> </p><p>The Light fury pursued them, at first trying to follow them in the same pattern but not having been trained like Stormfly in this had some difficulty keeping up</p><p>‘’COME ON!!’’</p><p>*Heather shouted now getting stressed out and a little tired from trying to hit this girl, even just a scratch*</p><p>By the ancients i can’t even imagine where you learned to fight as poorly as this</p><p>The scarred girl taunted her as she continued to avoid her attacks</p><p>‘’SHUT UP!!!’’</p><p> </p><p>"come on girl", Astrid whispers, and Stormfly again increases speed around the corners, zigzagging and turning quickly, a lot of agility she'd built up was impressive</p><p> </p><p>‘’Damn she’s good, I’ll give her that, but I’ve got a dragon to kill for my girlfriend, alright Fear start firing’’</p><p>The light fury flew up above the sea stacks and began blasting them as they chased the Hofferson girl</p><p>‘’Are you so reliant on your pathetic dragons you can’t fight without them?’’</p><p>The scarred girl continued to taunt the former rider who desperately continued to try and attack her</p><p>‘’SHUT UP!!! SHUT UP!!!’’</p><p>‘’You riders are all the same, Your nothing without your dragons’’</p><p>‘’FUCK YOU!!! SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH AND FIGHT ME YOU COWARD!!!’’<br/>Suddenly her attack was stopped right in its tracks by a bloodied beautiful looking sword, the scarred girl had drawn her weapon and caught Heathers </p><p>‘’as you wish’’</p><p>Astrid rolls her eyes, making Stormfly dive down lower so they where hidden in the shadows of the sea stacks. But before she does so she calls out</p><p>"We're over the ocean, and you're doing the same!"</p><p> </p><p>The blasts were powerful and carefully aimed, most of them were going for the weakest points of each stack to try and knock them over to force the rider out, these hunters absolutely did not play around</p><p>Heather realized what she had just done, she played right into this girls hands, expending her energy into failing her attack, now she had to put whatever she had left into her defence, and these attacks were fast, agile, and powerful</p><p> </p><p>"ok, they may be smart but they don't know dragons like I do. Stormfly, lets go". With that Astrid slowly navigates Stormfly around the falling pillars, getting the blasts to hit, but the pillars began to fall in the hunters direction</p><p> </p><p>The hunter knew what she was doing, making sure to fly above the pillars as to not risk getting crushed herself</p><p>‘’This is how you fight!’’</p><p>The girl said to Heather as she continued to attack her and wear her down more</p><p>‘’This is a real warrior!’’</p><p> </p><p>"come on, we need something. Alright, this may end badly. But they'll need to get closer if they want the blasts to last all the way down. So Stormfly, dive". With that Stormfly dives into the water, her blue colour bending in with the water</p><p>‘’Awww how cute, she can knows how to hide herself, why don’t we show her how we do it, Fear, you know what to do’’</p><p>The Light Fury nodded and fired a blast in front of her then flying directly into the flames, and suddenly disappearing, in the water there was sounds of splashing, Windshear was still trying to keep her head above the water, but she also looked very weak</p><p>The rider and the hunter ended up in a blade lock, the hunters cold evil purple eyes looking right into Heathers sending shivers up her body</p><p>‘’You’ll see....one day we will cleanse this world of the dragon filth that infects it, and you can either help us kill them, or die with them.....’’</p><p>‘’N-never!! I won’t let you!!!’’</p><p>"Very poor choice little girl....."</p><p>The hunter said before using all her strength to knock Heathers weapon from her hand, then attacking again, and taking Heathers right hand</p><p>“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FUCK!!!!”</p><p>Heather shrieked in pain and fell to the ground holding the spot where her hand used to be in complete agony as the girl simply smiled</p><p> </p><p>'knew she may follow' Astrid thinks to herself, before dissapearing further into the water before quickly getting Stormfly to dive up suddenly and getting her to melt and therefore push over a pillar</p><p> </p><p>Heather looked up in horror clutching the spot where her hand used to be which was draining blood like crazy knowing her death was coming next as the scarred girl raised her sword to strike the finishing blow</p><p>“Any last words dragon rider bitch?”</p><p>“Astrid.....”</p><p> </p><p>Astrid smirks, knowing at least that the crashing of the waves and water would offput the dragon and hunter. She quickly flies back towards the ship trying to find Heather</p><p> </p><p>“Astrid....help me.....”</p><p>“How pitiful.....”</p><p>The scarred girl prepared to kill Heather</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly Stormfly's tail wacks the girl, pushing her out of the way. At the sight of her girlfriend Astrid winces, but doesn't get distracted. She grabs the girl, pulling her up in front of her</p><p> </p><p>Almost as soon as Stormfly takes to the skies again the light fury suddenly reappears charging directly at them and the pink haired girl leaps at them with her sword and cuts a giant tear into Stormfly’s wing, not enough to render her flightless but definitely making it harder to control her and causing the Nadder pain</p><p> </p><p>"oh no you don't", Astrid chucks her axe at the lightfury, doing the same to the other dragon, the injury being slightly less server than Stormfly's.</p><p>"Come on girl, we have to keep out of range"</p><p> </p><p>Astrid.....</p><p>Heather groans in pain starting to lose consciousness</p><p> </p><p>"fuck, ok, come on Stormfly". The dragon just nods, half gliding half flying away from the ship as far as she could go.</p><p>Astrid turns to the Raven haired girl and whimpers, but shakes it off. She rips off a part of her shirt and ties it around the girls arm to stop the bleeding</p><p> </p><p>Windshear....w-wheres Windshear......</p><p> </p><p>"we'll go back for her, there's nothing we can do now", Astrid mutters, tightening the fabric around Heather's arm so the bleeding stops</p><p> </p><p>N-no.....w-we need to get her out of the water....s-she’ll drown......</p><p> </p><p>"and you'll die if you don't stay still, you're going to faint"</p><p>“Astrid.....I......”</p><p>Heather then slumped back having passed out from her loss of blood, they needed medical attention, and fast</p><p> </p><p>"oh god, alright. Stormfly, come on girl, we need to head to a village and fast" Astrid says, panicked</p><p> </p><p>Astrid!</p><p>An all good familiar male voice called out to her, it was Hiccup, and Toothless was carrying Windshear</p><p> </p><p>"fuck, no", she mutters.</p><p>"Don't even try anything Hiccup"</p><p> </p><p>Astrid if we don’t get them back to Berk or the edge, they will die</p><p> </p><p>"you don't think I know that?!" She snaps, glaring at him. Her blue eyes were now icy, distant, angry.</p><p>"The edge isn't the closest place here Hiccup. Don't be an idiot, there's a healer closer by"</p><p> </p><p>“Take us to this healer then, and fast!”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Astrid simply growls in response and a few minutes later they've landed in a field with a hut nearby</p><p> </p><p>Heather was still unconscious but breathing fine, her wound however was not showing any signs of slowing down, it was a clean cut and even with the cloth covering it, it was still bleeding fast</p><p> </p><p>Astrid just leans Heather against Stromfly when the dragon sits down before running up to the hut and knocking on the door.</p><p>A male, seeming young, perhaps about 19, opened it. He had short shaggy blondish hair, and was covered in belts with vials attached</p><p> </p><p>Windshear was not looking any better, while they waited for this healer, Fishlegs was looking over Windshear trying to find out what was wrong with her</p><p> </p><p>"oh! Hello!" The boy grins, and looks about. His face pales at the sight of the dragon amd human.</p><p>"I'll be right there. Keep the girl laying down along with the dragon".</p><p>Astrid nods, laying Heather down</p><p> </p><p>As Fishlegs continues to look he finally finds the culprit, it’s a dart, with some kind of vile that had been emptied of its contents, but when he looked closer his face turned white when he realized what had been inside the vial, and was now inside Windshear</p><p> </p><p>"alright, I'll do the girl first as dragons are bigger, more tolerable", the boy answers, rushing over. He places a basket filled with many vials, clothes and herbs by his side.</p><p>He removes the cloth Astrid had tied around her arm and replaces it with a thicker bandage at where her hand had been removed. He smothers some type of paste on the wound and covers it<br/>fortunately for Heather, she was still passed out and the pain of her wound being treated wasn’t affecting her</p><p> </p><p>He looks to Astrid and holds out a cup of some sort of liquid to her.</p><p>"Make her drink this. Now, onto the dragon", he stands, walking over to Windshear.</p><p>Astrid nods, sitting the girl up</p><p> </p><p>Windshear did not look good, she was having trouble breathing and having been stuck in the water for a long time did not help</p><p> </p><p>He winces. This didn't look good. He removes the dart and presses a cloth to the wound, wet with some type of liquid to stop it from bleeding</p><p> </p><p>“S-she won’t make it.....”</p><p>Fishlegs said sombrely</p><p> </p><p>"shush, with an attitude like that she won't", he snaps. Really, he knew that too. But it was best to keep quiet so the dragon had the best environment she could.</p><p>He feeds her some quick working pain killers so she wouldn't be in pain for this</p><p> </p><p>“I mean it.....she won’t make it.....”</p><p>He said picking up the dart and pointing out the vial “that was Changewing acid in there, it’s literally melting her from the inside.....t-there’s no way to save her”</p><p> </p><p>The boy narrows his eyes at Fishlegs, before rolling them. This chubby boy clearly wasn't getting the idea here.</p><p>He growls, walking over</p><p>"I know that! I am very well aware, if you think I'm not you are serverly mistaken. Thatst not the boy! Now stop talking!" He whisper yells, and walks back to the dragons head.</p><p>He props her head up on a soft bag filled with rags and runs a hand over her head soothingly.</p><p>Astrid watches from where she was holding Heather, having made the girl drink whatever the boy had given him.</p><p> </p><p>Heather began to show some signs of life again, slowly regaining a bit of consciousness</p><p> </p><p>"hey babe", Astrid mutters, holding the girl up. The boy, who's name Astrid knew as Ander, was cooing and singing softly to Windshear as he stroked gently down her snout</p><p> </p><p>Heather hasn’t fully recovered yet, so she wasn’t able to respond with much but a groan</p><p> </p><p>Astrid keeps her arms around the other woman and watches on sadly. Stormfly was laying next to Windshear now, wing draped over the Razorwhip</p><p> </p><p>The other dragons go to be with their friend, they knew what was coming and they wanted to be with her before the end, Windshear continued breathing, she was in great pain but didn’t even have the energy to react, however the acid slowly melting her from within was nothing compared to seeing her rider in a similar state</p><p>The boy gives her one last painkillers before giving her a sedative, letting her sleep in these last minutes. He hums against her gently. He didn't seem upset or frightened, seeming to know how to calm her</p><p>the dragon didn’t want to sleep, not yet, not before being with her rider one more time</p><p>Astrid helps Heather over to her dragon, leaving the girl to be with her dragon.</p><p>The boy gives the rider and dragon a sad smile, and pulls a harp out of his bag and begins to play a soothing tune</p><p> </p><p>Windshear coos and leans her head against Heather who has slowly begun to wake up a little</p><p>“W-Windshear?”</p><p>Astrid walks over to Stromfly, resting a hand on her dragons snout as the Nadder cooes sadly.</p><p>"Shhh my love, you'll fall down to clouds tonight". The boy begins to sing gently, a song he himself has wrote.</p><p> </p><p>The look on Windshear’s eyes as her rider woke up was all Heather needed to know, tears began forming on her face as she realized this was the last time she would be with her dragon</p><p>“No....”</p><p>The boy bows his head, running his hand once down the dragons snout before standing. He hands Heather a small vial of liquid.</p><p>"This is to stop her pain once it gets too much for her. Find me when she's gone, I'll help". His voice was soft, gentle, sorry as he walked away to his hut.</p><p>Astrid gives Heather a sorry smile, tears of her own running down her face</p><p> </p><p>Heather put an arm around her beloved dragon and embraced her, she was not going to let go until the very end, her tears soon joined by Windshear’s tears who sombrely cried as well knowing they would never see each other again. Hiccup places an arm on Astrid’s shoulder</p><p>“Let’s give her some space......s-she needs to be with her, alone”</p><p>Astrid shrugs off the boys hand, and walked over to the boys hut out of sight from Heather to let her be. The boy was sitting out of the front of hut, running a hand over the strings of his Harp</p><p>Windshear weakly put her wing over Heather to comfort her as best as possible in her final moments, Heather’s soft quiet crying and the sound of the harp were the only sounds that were being made, even Snotlout and the twins were silent....the seconds passed on....and eventually, without a single sound, without a single tiny little move.....so did Windshear......</p><p>Astrid walks to Heather again, kneeling by her side and embracing her tightly. She didn't know where to go from here, but right now all that mattered was helping Heather</p><p>The rest of the dragons each fired a blast into the air to honour their fallen friend, they were all of different species, but they were a family</p><p>"hey, you're going to be ok", Astrid mutters, holding the girl close. She presses her lips to her forehead gently, trying to comfort the girl</p><p> </p><p>This was truly the darkest hour the dragon riders had ever faced in their lives, but none more than Heather, because that very day, something changed in her, something snapped, this wasn’t the end of the pain for Heather, this was only the beginning.....her fall, had just begun</p>
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